The Tall Ferns will be looking to bounce back when they meet Senegal tomorrow after losing their second game of the World Cup qualifiers.
They were well beaten 74-51 by Italy in Puerto Rico yesterday.
Italy opened with a 10-2 run and Cecilia Zandalasini forged ahead to give her side a 26-12 lead at the break.
The Tall Ferns then put the screws on their Italian counterparts, keeping them scoreless for nearly three and a-half minutes, clawing their way back with a 6-0 run.
Tegan Graham’s back-to-back triples continued to cut the lead but Italy led 38-30 at halftime.
Although the Italians threatened to extend the lead again, the Ferns managed a great second quarter, outscoring their opponents by six to be down 30-38 at the half.
It was Graham who knocked down her third triple to start the third quarter and Ella Tofaeono’s and-one then brought the team to within a basket of snatching the lead.
But the Italians went on another run and surged to the biggest lead of the game 56-39.
"Look, a lot of improvement from yesterday," Tall Ferns coach Nat Hurst said.
"Still too many turnovers for us, too may points scored against us in that category.
"We just want to keep building and that was another building block for us so we walk away relatively happy.
"To push it until midway through the fourth quarter, again, stuff that we can be happy with. Obviously, we want to keep building, we want to be better but it’s a process for us."
The Tall Ferns play Senegal tomorrow.
World Cup qualifiers
The scores
Italy 74
Cecilia Zandalasini 18 points, Lorela Cubaj 14 points
Tall Ferns 51
Tegan Graham 9 points, Emme Shearer 8 points
Quarter scores: Italy 26-12, 38-30, 59-44, 74-51 — Allied Media
